40 dead following series of blasts in China

Beijing: At least 40 people have died in a series of explosions in Luntai county of China's Xinjiang province, media reports said Thursday.

The explosions occurred at a shop, an open market and two police stations around 5 p.m. Sunday, Xinhua reported citing the official Tianshan website. It added that 54 civilians, including 32 ethnic Uygurs, were injured in the blasts.

Earlier, local media reported that the blasts killed just two people.

Police said the main suspect, Mamat Tursun, was shot dead, while two people were captured for carrying out an "organised and serious" terrorist attack.

Tursun, according to police, had been operating as an extremist since 2003.